


echoes and shadows

by gold_rush



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Fights, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Making Out, Making Up, Past Abuse, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 22:23:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12285504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gold_rush/pseuds/gold_rush
Summary: Lance and Keith are arguing. It's steadily getting out of control. The blue paladin never meant to make Keith panic. Keith never meant to react so poorly. Shiro just wants to make sure that Keith is alright - he's more than familiar with the shadows that haunt his friend.





	echoes and shadows

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second Voltron fic and my first attempt at Klance!
> 
> Let me know what you think.

Lance and Keith are arguing. Yes, they’re _always_ arguing, but not like this. This, this whatever it is, has been going on for too long, their voices are steadily becoming too loud. They’re practically screaming at one another, drawing their wide-eyed friends towards them as they start shouting words that they know will wound the other. 

Lance’s eyes are wild, his familiar smile long gone, as he declares the man he loves ‘volatile’ and ‘reckless’. Keith, always giving as good as he gets, grits his teeth before he lets out a chilling laugh and calls his lover a ‘joke’ and a ‘burden’. A cold silence washes over the room, and the two angry young men, fists curled hotly at their sides, stare across at each other, their chests heaving as they contemplate how, exactly, they can deliver the final blow. As they seriously consider being unforgivably cruel.

Neither of them alter their gazes but, had they done so, they’d have seen the sense of dread that has washed over the castle ship. Hunk and Pidge are frozen by the door, lost and bewildered, like children witnessing their first real fight. Coran and Allura are both speechless, stuck fast where they stand, one of the Princess’s fingers twitching behind her back as she contemplates reaching out to both of either of them. But _Shiro_ , Shiro looks like he’s been punched in the face, he looks awful, like his entire life is unraveling before his eyes. Then, when the black paladin registers the softest movement of Keith’s lips, when he sees that his friend’s mouth is about to open, and say something he won’t be able to take back, Shiro opens his own and shouts through the oppressive, brooding silence, his voice strained but determined, ‘Keith, don’t say it! Whatever it is you _think_ you want to say, don’t say it. _Please_.’

Both men jump at Shiro’s sudden interjection, like they hadn’t realised that this whole mess has had five horrified witnesses for quite a while. Lance doesn’t take his eyes off Keith, he refuses to, instead he watches as the dark-haired man struggles to bite his tongue before he glares over at Shiro. And the look is so vicious, so full of misplaced disgust, that Lance feels something horrible bloom in the darkest pit of his stomach. That’s not right. That’s a million miles away from being alright. Keith loves Shiro. They’re family, in a different way than all of the other paladins are family. And, for Lance to see the way his lover is glaring at the man now, it almost knocks the wind clean out of his sails. So, just as Keith is about to shift his weight, just as he’s about to turn on Shiro completely - the man who has given him nothing but unconditional love and patient understanding - Lance closes his eyes, pushes down a mouthful of air, alongside most of his ridiculous subsiding anger, and he says, _‘Keith?’_

Keith winces, like Lance has just slapped him. Which would seem ridiculous, because Lance would _never,_ not ever, but instead everything just seems so sad all of a sudden. And isn’t that how this whole thing had started in the first place? It had all been a stupid, innocent mistake. Lance hadn’t known, Lance couldn’t have known, how could he have, when Keith is so protective of his childhood, of his past? He couldn’t have predicted that sneaking up behind him as he made their bed, intent on swatting his ass, would cause all of this. Yes, he’d misjudged it a bit, his hand colliding with Keith’s thighs instead, but Lance has tapped his lover’s ass probably thousands of times before and something like this has _never_ happened. In fact, Keith really seems to like it when his lover touches him that way. So this, all of it, has come out of nowhere. Except that can’t be true. Can it? Lance has missed something big somewhere along the line, he’s missed something important. And maybe... maybe he really is a joke afterall. Maybe he’s slow, and stupid, and not worthy of being _any_ part of Voltron.

Shiro, kind and thoughtful Shiro, moves towards them then. Stopping to press a warm, supportive palm against the middle of Lance’s back. And the Cuban man doesn’t have to look at the hand Shiro has reaching out towards Keith to feel the tremor rushing through the black paladin's body. Shiro is scared too. Maybe as much as Lance. Maybe even more. And that makes Lance feel even worse.

‘Keith,’ Shiro begins, so carefully that Lance is sure only the three of them can hear him. ‘I’m sorry. Whatever is happening, I’m really sorry.’

‘Why do you always do that!?’ Keith shouts, making Lance’s heart stutter in his chest, and he doesn’t sound angry the way he did earlier, this time it’s different. This time it hurts more than anything Keith could ever have said to him. And part of Lance wishes they could go back in time, so they could stop Shiro from interrupting, so Keith would just eviscerate him there and then and get it over with. Anything to stop Keith’s voice from sounding like _this_.

‘Do what? Keith, what am I doing wrong?’ Shiro asks, confused but attentive - like there’s nothing else in the universe worth hearing.

‘Why are you always so... so gentle with me?’ Keith says quietly and his face starts to fall, tears running down his cheeks. ‘I don’t. I don’t understand...’ Keith sobs out and Lance is starting to feel sick, praying that Shiro doesn’t move because he’s truly starting to believe that he needs the soft touch of black paladin’s hand to stay upright.

Shiro lets out a muted, awful sound beside Lance before he says, his voice honest and open, ‘Because I love you. Because you deserve gentleness, Keith.’

‘I…’ Keith begins before he wipes at his cheeks, and when he looks up, he realises that they’re completely alone, that the others are gone. Now it’s just him, and Shiro, and Lance. _Lance_. What has he done? His lover looks too pale, his cheeks red and damp, his mouth twisted into an expression of anxiety. _Where has that beautiful smile gone?_

When the red paladin doesn’t finish his thoughts out loud, Shiro lets it simmer between them for a while, giving Keith a little space to catch up with himself. Then he asks, because he has to, of course he does, ‘What happened?’ Before he continues, with an aching vulnerability of his own, ‘What was it that scared you?’

‘I... I think _I_ did,’ Lance stutters out, panic starting to rise in his chest at the unbearable realisation. Shiro spins around and looks at him then, really looks at him for the first time, and Lance looks like he’s about to pass out as he mutters, ‘I think… I think _I_ did this. I did this. Oh, _God_. I'm sorry. I’m so sorry. Lo siento. Lo siento. _Lo siento mucho_.’

Out of the corner of his eye, Lance sees Keith take a step forward but Shiro is suddenly in front of him, easing him down onto the floor so he doesn’t fall down and break something, most probably himself. Shiro looks back at Keith, at the horror that is washing over his face as he moves to hover behind his shoulder. Then the black paladin says, his voice firm and reassuring, ‘No, you didn’t. You’re okay, Lance. Just breathe for me. In and out. In and out. Come on. In and out. In and out. That’s it. That’s it, Lance. You’re doing a great job, in and out. Nice and steady now. There’s no rush. We’re not going anywhere. Good man. That’s it. Keep going. Just keep it going.’

Shiro let’s Lance catch his breath for a while after that, a hand on his thigh to let him know that he’s not alone. And the room is deathly quiet. Keith standing just behind Shiro, his index fingers picking nervously at his thumbs. Then, when Shiro is confident Lance can form a sentence he pats his leg and twists to look up at Keith as he says, ‘We need to figure this out. Together. So, tell me what happened?’

‘He just… he just hit me and it took me by surprise is all,’ Keith tries to explain quickly and Shiro’s body stiffens, like his entire world is getting ripped to shreds again. Then, realising how bad it sounds, how wrong it sounds, Keith starts shaking his head, so hard it could probably bobble right off his shoulders, as he urges, low and steady, ‘No. Shiro, not like that. Not like that, I swear. I wouldn’t… I wouldn't defend someone who did that to me… not again.’ That seems to ease some of the tension, but Shiro still doesn’t look away from the red paladin, he still won’t look at Lance. And Lance is glad of that. Because he doesn’t know how he could explain this in his favour when he feels so guilty about it all. When his guilt feels like a cement block  in his stomach.

‘Then _explain it_ to me,’ Shiro offers quietly, visibly trying not to do or say something rash. His voice sounds strange to Lance; in fact, everything sounds strange to Lance, because all he can focus on is the revelation that Keith has just thrown out between the lines - that someone hit him, someone he defended, that it was a routine occurrence, that someone scared him so much it still echoes violently into his present. That someone made him so afraid it has an impact on his relationship with Lance.

'He just… I was making the bed and he… he came up behind me, and I didn’t _see_ him coming, and he tried to hit my ass because… because I don’t know, he thinks he’s smooth or something… and I just… it freaked me out. I was suddenly… I was back there. And then I… I reacted very poorly,’ Keith offers with earnest resolution as he reaches out to touch Shiro, resting his fingers on his shoulder. ‘I’m okay. You know Lance, you _know_ him, Shiro. You know what kind of man he is. You know he wouldn’t… he wouldn’t ever do that to me.’

‘I know, sorry,’ Shiro offers and Lance almost feels like he’s intruding until Shiro turns back to smile at him as he says, ‘I’m sorry, Lance. It’s just… I worry about him.’

‘Shiro...’ Keith whines.

‘No, I do. For a while there, we were all we had. So, I worry. But I _am_ sorry - for entertaining something like that, even for a second,’ Shiro offers and Lance feels a tear snake down his cheek. He wipes it away but he doesn’t bother with the ones that follow.

‘I never meant to hurt you, or scare you, I love you so much,’ Lance says quietly, his wet eyes flicking up to Keith’s. The dark-haired man offers him a lopsided smile then and sinks down onto his knees in front of him. So they’re all three of them sitting in a small circle, a circle that looks a little more like a triangle.

‘You’ve _never_ hurt me,’ Keith reassures him with a sense of urgency, forever glad of Shiro’s presence. Somehow, he always gives the younger man the strength to say the things he could never say on his own. ‘Lance, you never have. Please, don’t… please don’t treat me any differently after this… _that_ is what would hurt me, okay? I love you too.’

‘Okay,’ Lance says automatically, in a long breath, and Keith offers him an emotional smile.

‘Thank you and about... about before... please don’t...’ Keith pauses just to look at Shiro who seems to know what’s coming as he huffs out a small laugh and starts to stand. ‘I’ll leave you boys to it. Just take care of each other, okay? You both deserve the world.’

‘Thank you,’ Lance says and Shiro smiles at him before he reaches down and ruffles his hair, pausing to do the same to Keith before he slips out of the room.

Keith is quiet for a while after that, it really does take him longer to say things without Shiro. But Lance is patient, so he waits, his hand suddenly surrounded by his lover’s, drawing his gaze upwards. So they’re holding eye-contact as Keith says, a heavy blush colouring his cheeks, ‘I don’t want you to stop putting your hands on me, Lance. Touching me. Groping me. S-spanking my ass. I think… I think you’ve probably worked out that I really like that by now?’

‘I.. yeah, but..’ Lance offers, trying to reconcile what he thought he knew with what has happened today. Keith rolls his eyes, his cheeks burning. They’ve never actually talked about this before.

‘I _do_ like it. I like it a lot. With you. But before…’ Keith gestures around them, ‘before all of this, before space, before Voltron, things were very different and they were... hard. There were a lot of bad people who made me think that they loved me in different ways. They didn’t. They never loved me. I know that now. Shiro, he brought me love without any strings. He let me understand what a family should be. And you… you bring me love without strings. And I love you with all of my heart. But they… if I don’t see it coming. A hand, an intention. My mind fills in the gaps and sometimes… it gets it wrong. It makes me panic when I don’t need to. When I’m perfectly safe. And I freak out,’ Keith offers, shooting Lance a smile that carries a lot of history.

‘Did something like this... ever happen with Shiro? Before, I mean, back on Earth?’ Lance asks quietly, like he’s not sure he should even be asking that question at all. It’s probably too personal, Keith doesn’t have to tell him. Lance isn’t really expecting him to. It’s just that when he thinks of his own family, of how they would always touch and shove each other, it makes him wonder. Though, he still feels the need to explain himself. ‘I just mean, me and my siblings, we were always touching each other out of nowhere. Shoving each other. Hugging each other. Being assholes. Even being nice. _Sometimes_.’

‘Yeah, it used to happen all the time,’ Keith says with a short laugh, ‘At first, it happened almost every day. So, don’t think that it’s just you, okay? Shiro, he’s a touchy-feely person. You know what he’s like. And it used to scare him shitless - me reacting like this to even the slightest of things. But I got over it, slowly. Or Shiro was more careful, I don’t know. But he was always patient and he was always thoughtful. He never got mad, or raised a hand, or made me do anything I didn’t want to do - except my homework. And eventually... it just stopped happening altogether.’

‘I don’t want to make it happen ever again,’ Lance offers honestly and his lover nods. They both want that to be the case.

‘If I see that it’s you, I’ll be okay; if I know that it’s you, I’ll be okay. _Always._ Which is why… when we have sex and you spank me from behind sometimes, I’m okay. I’m more than okay with that,’ Keith says, reaching out to run his fingers down the side of his lover’s face. ‘Because I don’t have any reason to be scared of you. So, don’t think that I am, alright?’

‘Alright,’ Lance says, smiling, turning his head quickly so he can nip at Keith’s fingers with his teeth. The dark-haired man rolls his eyes and lets his fingertips linger on Lance’s soft lips. Only contemplating it for a moment before he leans forward and kisses Lance. The Cuban man’s mouth opening automatically, allowing his lover to deepen the kiss as he climbs onto his lap.

Once in position, Keith rolls his hips downwards and Lance hums, instinctively pulling back a hand just to smack it against the needy flesh of his lover’s ass. Keith moans into his mouth and Lance freezes, his lover pulling away just long enough to squirm a little and say, his voice hot with the heat of building pleasure, ‘Do that again, baby.’

So, Lance does and then Keith is back to moaning into his mouth. Carefully pushing his lover backwards, so he’s flat on the floor as Keith straddles him. Then they’re grinding. Kissing. Until they’re coming undone in their clothes. They’re not quiet about it either. Far from it. But, if anyone hears them, then they never mention it.

And they’re both grateful for that.


End file.
